There’s nothing quite like a homemade tortilla, freshly cooked with it’s slightly toasted aroma. Tortillas are ALWAYS best the day they are made when they are at their most tender. However, for meal planning purposes, the next day and frozen tortillas that have been warmed up are still way better than anything bought at the store.
There are so many variations of tortillas out there and I don’t really consider one kind to be the best. Each type of tortilla is perfect for a particular meal, cuisine or situation. This post will focus on the flour tortilla, a personal favourite. This week, I went slightly crazy making tortillas non-stop. The good news is my freezer has never been better stocked. Different ingredient amounts, and methodology were tested extensively. Through that, I discovered something incredible. An amazingly flexible flour tortilla recipe! With just a few alterations to the method, you can get different styles of flour tortillas. Smaller, thin, tender and flaky rounds best as a soft shelled taco. Or better yet, the perfect medium to shovel all the trimmings into your mouth. With a little bit of butter or oil on the pan, you can make larger, bubbly and tender roti-style tortillas. There’s also the classic tex-mex style, chewy yet flexible, this traditional flour tortilla makes for a perfect wrap! The same recipe with minute differences in the directions can leave you with multiple types of tortillas to pair with different meals. This recipe can easily make small (6-7 inch) and large (8-9 inch) tortillas. All purpose, multiple-use dough recipes are the bomb.
This recipe has only 4 ingredients! Just all-purpose flour, salt, water and vegetable shortening. By choosing vegetable shortening instead of lard, these are completely vegan, making them incredibly approachable for anyone to eat. I don’t know about you, but I always have some vegetable shortening in my pantry which means there’s never an excuse to not make homemade tortillas. The salt is needed to season the tortillas, bringing out some flavour. The final component is hot water. Hot enough to melt the vegetable shortening as it’s mixed in, but not hot enough to burn your hands while kneading the dough.
To start off this Flour Tortilla 101 lesson, let’s talk about tools. There is no best tool for the job. In fact there are multiple tools that can make a great tortilla. Both machines and hands can be used to make the dough. I like to use a food processor, a tortilla press, parchment paper and a pastry scraper. However, you can accomplish it just as well with only your hands, a large bowl and a rolling pin or even a stand-mixer and pastry cutter. These can be cooked on a sheet pan in the oven or in a cast iron skillet on the stove top.
Food Processor
To make the dough, use either a food processor or do it all by hand. The food processor is quicker and usually what I use. The dry ingredients are added to the food processor, covered with a lid and pulsed on low for 10-15 seconds until mixed thoroughly. The room temperature vegetable shortening is added in spoonfuls on top of the dry ingredients before being recovered with the lid. Pulse the food processor on and off in 1 second bursts for 10 seconds. The result should have a crumb-like texture. While the food processor is running on low, slowly add the hot water until the dough just comes together.
By hand
Making the dough by hand is pretty similar to above. In a bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together and add the vegetable shortening in spoonfuls on top. There are a couple different ways to mix in the fat. Use your fingers to rub it in, a pastry blender to cut it in or a couple forks. The idea is to break it up until there are no pieces larger than a crumb. Using a spoon, stir in the hot water until the dough just starts to come together.
Pour the dough onto a clean and lightly floured surface.
Kneading
At this point in the process, the first decision needs to be made. A soft, tender and flaky tortilla only requires 8-10 kneads total. Just enough for the dough to come together in the shape of a ball before being set aside to rest. This minimizes the gluten formation which results in an incredibly tender tortilla. For a chewier and more flexible tortilla, make sure to knead the dough for 10-15 minutes. This will strengthen the gluten, resulting in a ball of dough with a silky-smooth texture. Any indents created in the dough should bounce back and smooth right out. If you don’t feel like giving your arms a workout by kneading the dough for that long then I highly suggest the use of a stand-mixer with a dough hook attachment! Make sure to cover the dough ball with plastic wrap or a damp towel to keep it from drying out. After 10 minutes of resting, it’s ready to be cut up and rolled into little balls.
Large or Small?
The next decision is to decide between smaller or larger tortillas. For smaller 6-7 inch tortillas cut the ball of dough into 10-12 equal-sized pieces. I like to keep the weight of each smaller ball between 55-65 grams. For large 8-9” tortillas, cut the dough into 6-7 pieces and keep each piece in the range of 95-105 grams. Whatever you choose, roll each piece into a small, smooth ball and re-cover to make sure they don’t dry out during the final resting phase. After 15 minutes, they should be ready to either press or roll out into a tortilla shape. If you notice the dough shrinking during the next part let the balls rest for longer, the gluten needs to have completely relaxed to ensure your tortillas are as large as possible and don’t shrink on you.
Tortilla press
Have you been told that a tortilla press can’t be used to make flour tortillas? If so, you were lied to. Using a press to shape the smaller tortillas works perfectly using the following trick. To start, cut out two 8 inch diameter circles out of parchment paper. These parchment paper rounds will be used to protect the ball of dough from sticking to the press and make it easier to transfer the tortilla from the press to the skillet without the tortilla losing its shape. Open the press and place one of the parchment rounds on the bottom. Next, place a ball of dough on the parchment and squish it down into a pancake shape by placing the second parchment round on top, in-line with the one on the bottom. Close the press, pull down on the lever and put some pressure on it. I usually repeat this 8-10 times, opening it back up and rotating the parchment paper slightly until it has been spun and pressed in a complete circle. This ensures the tortilla is thin, circular and has an even thickness throughout. Open it back up, gently pull the top parchment layer off and transfer the uncooked tortilla to a heated skillet (parchment side up). The top side should still have the other parchment round attached. Use this to gently press all around the tortilla, making sure to use firm even pressure in the middle and around every edge. This will help adhere the tortilla to the skillet as it starts to cook. After 10-15 seconds, gently remove the parchment paper. By following the above steps, the tortilla should have kept its shape, without the edges shrinking back or pulling upwards. The press is best used to make the smaller tortilla sizes. Using the press is relatively fast, so I usually start pressing the next tortilla while the one before it is cooking. For a larger tortilla, I recommend rolling the dough out using a rolling pin.
Rolling pin
For a larger 8-9 inch tortilla, roll out a ball of dough on a clean, lightly-floured surface using a rolling pin. If the rolling pin starts to stick to the dough, lightly flour the pin as well. When rolling out the dough, start at the end closest to your body and roll away from yourself with even force the entire way. Rotate the dough after each pass until you have formed a large, semi-translucent circle that’s about 9 inches in diameter. This semi-translucent state indicates the tortilla has reached the perfect thinness. A thin tortilla dough is necessary if you want it to puff up properly while cooking. To transfer the tortilla to the skillet, you can half-roll it around the rolling pin to carry it easier. If you try to transfer it using only your hands, you run the risk of pulling/distorting the dough. Since rolling takes a bit longer than using a press, you may want to pre-roll a few tortillas before the cooking starts. They can be stacked as long as you use parchment paper dividers in between them.
Cooking
Before cooking the tortillas, make sure to preheat a seasoned cast iron skillet. On an electric stove, 8-10 minutes at just below medium heat (4 out of 10 on my stove) usually does the trick. It will take less time on an induction or gas stove. A good test for if a skillet is ready is to splash a couple drops of water on it. If the water steams and sizzles up right away it’s ready to go.
A minute give or take is usually enough to cook the tortillas all the way through. The smaller tortillas can be flipped 3-4 times in that time. You want one side to be cooked (meaning no translucent dough) before flipping it over, but not enough that it burns. Usually, by the 3rd to 4th flip, the tortilla will start to puff up in the center with a large air bubble. If the air bubble pauses before it’s fully expanded try flipping again; that’s often enough to kick start the expansion back up. The bubble occurs because of the expansion of hot air trapped between the layers. This is also why tortillas end up so flaky and delicious.
Larger tortillas are typically only flipped 2-3 times. The first side should be flipped after a bunch of bubbles start to appear. If, after flipping the first time, the tortilla stalls while puffing up, try flipping once again. The heat can also be adjusted. If the tortillas aren’t puffing up, try turning up the temperature a bit. If they start to burn, turn it down. I typically see-saw between 4-5 for the stove-top temperature (out of 10). If you’re looking to make more of a roti-style, add a little butter or oil to the pan and spread it around to cook the less-kneaded, larger, rolled-out version of this tortilla recipe. The end result will be pretty similar to roti; the perfect medium to dip in flavourful sauces.
A normal skillet can also be used to cook the tortillas; they will just have lighter brown spots instead. I also tested cooking the tortillas in an oven at 500 F on a sheet pan. For a tortilla with minimal toasted spots, merely cook it for 3 minutes in the oven, flipping half-way. If the tortilla is still puffing up at the 3 minute mark, leave it be until it has finished before taking it out.
Softening
This final step is crucial for softening the cooked tortillas. While the tortillas are still hot from being cooked, cover them either in a warming container made for this purpose or folded in a clean kitchen towel. By stacking the cooked tortillas on top of each other and trapping the warmth, they will continue to give off heat which, when trapped, will up the humidity and soften the tortillas. In the warming container, sometimes the steam will turn to condensation and that can turn some of the edges soggy. Make sure to add a couple paper towels on the bottom to avoid this.
Meal Prep
Since this recipe only makes 6-7 of the larger tortillas, it can easily be doubled with no extra work. As for making ahead, there are two points at which the tortillas can be frozen. Right after the dough is rolled into individual balls, they can be placed in a sealed freezer bag and frozen. This way, the frozen balls can be defrosted a couple hours before being cooked, in order to have fresh tortillas whenever. Alternatively, they can be frozen after they have been cooked. I like to separate the tortillas in fours, using parchment paper dividers and storing them in a sealable freezer bag. When ready to warm them up for a meal, just wrap the desired amount in tin foil and heat them up in an oven at 350F for at least 10 minutes. Both methods work and make it easy to keep a large stockpile in your freezer for multiple meals, making meal prep nice and easy.
There you have it! Everything you need to know to start your foray into the realm of flour tortillas.
Flour Tortilla 101
- Yield: 10-12 small or 6-7 large |
- Prep time: 10 - 25 min |
- Wait time: 25 min |
- Cook Time: 10-12 min |
Ingredients:
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2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (350 g)
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1/2 tbsp sea salt
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1/3 cup vegetable shortening, softened (75 g)
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1 cup hot water
Directions:
Food processor
1. Add the flour and salt to the food processor, secure the lid and process on low for 10-15 seconds until they are completely mixed together.2. Add the vegetable shortening in small spoonfuls on top of the dry ingredients. Cover and pulse the food processor on and off for 10 seconds in 1 second intervals. It should look like there are small crumbs throughout the flour mixture.
3. While the food processor is running on low and covered, slowly add the hot water through the opening in the top until all the water has been added. Stop as soon as the dough starts to come together. Proceed to step 4.
By hand
1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour and salt.2. Break or cut up the vegetable shortening and spread out on top of the dry ingredients. Using a pastry blender or your hands, rub it into the dry ingredients until a crumb-like texture forms.
3. Pour the hot water into the mixture and stir with a spoon until a shaggy dough forms. Proceed to step 4.
4. Move the dough to a clean, lightly-floured surface. For a soft and tender tortilla, only knead the dough 8-10 times and shape into a ball. For a chewy and flexible tortilla, knead the dough for 10-15 minutes, forming it into a ball with a silky-smooth surface - an indent from a pressed finger on the ball should bounce back. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean, damp towel and let rest for 10 minutes.
5. For smaller 6-7” tortillas, cut the dough into 10-12 pieces (55-65g each). For larger 8-9” tortillas, cut the dough into 6-7 pieces (95-105g each). Roll each piece into a smooth ball and re-cover with plastic wrap or a clean, damp towel. Let rest for 15 minutes minimum.
6. On the stove top, heat up a seasoned cast iron skillet on just below medium heat (4 out of 10) for 8-10 minutes. If using a tortilla press, cut out two 8” diameter rounds of parchment paper.
7. Smaller tortillas: squish a ball of dough between 2 rounds of parchment paper, open the tortilla press and insert the ball. Close it and press down with some force on the lever. Open the press, spin the parchment round slightly and repeat. Do this 8-10 times until the tortilla has been spun in a full circle. The tortilla dough should be a thin, even circle. Gently peel away the top parchment round, exposing the tortilla dough.
Larger tortillas: lightly flour the work surface and rolling pin. Place a ball of dough on it and using the rolling pin, start to roll away from your body using a firm, even pressure. Rotate the dough and repeat until the dough is a thin, semi-translucent 9” diameter circle.
8. Transfer the tortilla to the heated skillet and cook for 1 minute total. If cooking the smaller version, make sure the exposed tortilla side is in contact with the skillet and the parchment round is on top. Press down on the parchment paper on top, making sure that every part of the tortilla is pressed into the skillet. Once it starts to cook, gently peel off the top round of parchment. Flip 3-4 times in 15-20 second increments. For the larger tortilla, flip 2-3 times in 20-30 second increments. Once the tortilla starts to bubble up, flip the first time. The tortilla should start to puff up with a large air bubble. If the bubble stalls before the entire tortilla is finished puffing up, flip again.
9. Stack the cooked tortillas in a warming container (lined with paper towel) or wrap in a clean kitchen towel to create a warm environment. Let sit for 10 minutes or until the tortillas have softened.